A Final Tribute
by Ink Mage
Summary: A tribute for the 23rd anniversary of Jim Henson's death


_A.N. Hey readers. So, last year I was struggling with some traumatic events, including the suicide of a friend at the same time that I was contemplating suicide. In order to cope, I fixated on another similar event—which, thanks to Kevin Clash, turned out to be the death of Jim Henson. I am doing better now, but I ended up writing several fanfictions as a show of my grief. I felt that publishing them today was the right thing to do, in thanks to an extraordinary man._

_To Jim Henson—_

_Thank you for showing us the rainbow connection._

_Sincerely,_

_The lovers, the dreamers and me_

The Muppet Theatre was silent. It wasn't the spooky silence that had existed in the dilapidated ghost of the theatre. It wasn't a sad silence that had existed in the moments when the Muppets realized that they had no working show, no celebrity host, and no chance of saving their home. This silence… it was mournful. Walter looked around uncertainly. The band was silent, the stage was empty, and the backstage area was abandoned. For a minute he didn't know where to go. And then he saw them. Kermit, Rowlf, Dr Teeth, Waldorf, Swedish Chef… all of them were crowded around a framed photograph of a man talking to Kermit. He was tall, with long curly grey hair and a curly grey beard. He was somewhat plain-looking, but the thing that truly stood apart for him was the happy spark in his eyes as he looked at the frog. For a minute, Walter thought about joining them. But somehow he knew that he wouldn't be welcome, and he left them alone.

Around lunch Walter managed to meet up with Fozzie Bear, and finally found out what had happened. The twenty-third anniversary of Jim Henson's death. Of course Walter had heard of Jim Henson—it was one of his saddest moments of the Muppets. The tribute that they had thrown, and the heartbroken look on Kermit's face had stuck with him for years. Even now, the Muppets who had worked closest with Jim looked deeply unhappy. In that moment, Walter knew that he had to help the Muppets get through this anniversary.

He didn't do much—and certainly nothing that would interfere with the mourning of the Muppets. A new purple top hat was waiting for Dr Teeth by his keyboard. A set of earplugs was in Statler and Waldorf's box. Swedish Chef found a new set of knives in the kitchen. Rowlf's piano was cleaned and tuned for him. And Kermit found a simple card waiting for him in his office. A sketch of Jim, with the simple slogan: '_He lives on in you'_.

Walter wasn't sure how they found out. They showed it in their own quiet ways. He got a larger portion of food from the Chef at dinner (which, now that he thought about it, wasn't necessarily a good thing). Waldorf was slightly less snarky with his comments. Dr Teeth and Rowlf were kind enough to give Walter the stage to practice his act—they had a habit of practicing their own music while he was trying to perform, claiming that 'it would prepare him for chaos'. And Kermit… well, Kermit took a moment near the end of the day to talk to Walter.

He had just been sitting there, writing a letter to Gary and Mary, when the frog had sat beside him. For a moment neither of them spoke, each enjoying the companionable silence. But finally Kermit got on with it.

"You remind me a lot of Jim, you know," Kermit began. Walter had to fight the urge to faint. While he was getting better about interacting with the Muppets and the guest stars without causing a scene, well—this was different. This was his hero paying him the ultimate compliment, and Walter was bursting at the seams with joy.

"Jim was the reason that the Muppets existed," Kermit continued. "He believed in us enough to give us a chance, and was stubborn enough to get us on television. And once we were there, the rest of the world saw what he saw—and they started believing in us too. It's the same with you, Walter. You gave us hope that someone still believed in us after all these years. And we would have never gotten back together without you. Jim would have been proud of you—just like I am."

For a minute, Walter was speechless. But he knew what he needed to do. He softly cleared his voice, and sang one of the Muppet songs that had touched hearts all around the world.

"_If just one person believes in you;_

_Deep enough, and strong enough, believes in you;_

_Hard enough, and long enough—before you knew it,_

_Someone else would think: if he can do it, I can do it. Making it…"_

Kermit joined in, heart bursting with emotion. This was how Jim's anniversary should be spent—not moping around the theatre, but celebrating that he had lived.

"_Two whole people who believe in you;_

_Deep enough, and strong enough believe in you;_

_Hard enough, and long enough—there's bound to be some_

_Other person who believes in making it a threesome…_

_Making it..."_

Rowlf joined in on the piano, adding music to one of Jim's favourite songs. Fozzie sung the next entrance, his voice husky with emotion.

"_Three...people you can say, believe in me._

_And if three whole people, why not..."_

Miss Piggy took Kermit's hand, and added her voice to the song.

"_Four? And if four whole people, why not..."_

Slowly, the rest of the Muppets began to join in on the old song, their voices joining in a wave of sound that shook the old theatre with waves of emotion.

"_More, and more, and more?_

_And when all those people believe in you;_

_Deep enough and strong enough believe in you;_

_Hard enough and long enough—it stands to reason_

_You, yourself will start to see what everybody sees in you._

_And maybe even you, can believe in you, too."_

And as the Muppets voiced their thanks to Jim and Walter for always believing in them, Kermit put one arm around the shoulders of the younger Muppet and held him in a brief hug of thanks. And up in heaven, Jim looked down on the Muppets…and smiled.

"**Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling. May each of yours be that - having each of you as a child of mine has certainly been one of the good things in my life. Know that I've always loved each of you with an eternal, bottomless love. A love that has nothing to do with each other, for I feel my love for each of you is total and all-encompassing. Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody. It's a good life, enjoy it."—Jim Henson**


End file.
